Pain struck sharp and clear as Sevlaz's eyes opened again, the sleepy groan coming more as a whisper than what it should have. It didn't sound like his voice at all as he blinked a few times looking into the face of the horned elf.
"Seven for Sevlaz is quite poetic and honestly, my last chance for you," the white bearded creature spoke, though there was more of an edge to his tone than he remembered. Everything felt so off.
The creature leaned forward, close enough to be mere inches from the orc's face as he spoke softly but with the force of a hurricane.
"Hell is repetition, Sevlaz. And I am sorry for making you have to live it over and over again. But I will not put this on you unless you truly want it," the creature spoke oddly and cryptically. "I have offered this to many before you and I will undoubtedly offer it again to many after. But you all will always have a choice. I want you to be a part of this. I feel you will be a great asset to our cause. You trained one of my greatest and I cannot imagine you would fail where they succeeded."
Golden eyes of sand and glass stared into dull red as he continued to speak quickly. "Join me. Help my cause. Help my lord. Hear the Word."
The Word. They made it sound like it was something important or something more than just, well a word. He was so tired. To sleep would be for the best. How much more could he do? And if this thing knew anything about him, why in the world would it think he would do the right thing? Sevlaz was a thief. A pirate. A traitor. A murderer.
A survivor.
"Sevlaz."
The red eyes peered up at him again.
"I don't want to influence you, but I don't want to lie to you either," the creature spoke softly again, this time bearing an edge of sincerity that belied the former edge. "You need to know."
"They live."
@daily-writing-challenge
Noell Gallina flicked a chunk of mango from the orc's shoulder with a mixture of disgust and amusement at the other's misfortune this morning. The blood elf was dressed as always in her patrol uniform bearing the tabard of her station within Orgrimmar but hints of her former past within Silvermoon City with the shield and sword of her homeland. The Horde were not one to forget one's heritage but asked to dwell on the future more so than one's past.
Easier said than done.
But try she must and so she was given this task by Quel'thalas command. When originally given the task it had felt more like exile in to the heart of those who had ruined her own and many other lives. She could still smell the burning vines from those years ago and could still see the soulless blue eyes of the fallen as her world was taken in fire. Orcs, trolls, and the dead. The world was strange.
"So you say you tripped into this stall Master....?" Noell spoke calmly, folding her arms across her chest as she took inventory of the orc.
He wasn't like most orcs. Of course he was green with red eyes as was standard to the dominate race of the Horde, but his manners and dress were more akin to her own people than the usual barbarian garb of his own. His size didn't say much either as he seemed a bit thinner and smaller than the grunts she butted heads with on patrol, but who knows what age really did to an orc judging by the grey hair on his face. And a face it was.
Burn scars crossed a majority of it with matching scars of undoubtedly violent means created an obvious tapestry of violence. The most obvious and gruesome of the bunch though was the missing flap of skin where his upper lip should be leaving behind a crude and unsettling grin of sorts. No one should smile all the time like that. The elf had to stifle the pang of sympathy for him as she waited for his answers.
"Sevlaz," the orc answered eyeing his shoulder where she'd flicked the broken mango from. "And yeah, tripped and rolled hard right into it. Lucky didn't break my leg or arm suppose. Wrist might be another matter."
Noell did her best not to match the roll of his hand to her eyes as she stared at him listening, her eyes moving from him to the damage and back. Never a dull moment in the capital as she looked back over her shoulder to her partner.
Nianani, a Zandalari soldier fresh off the boat, listened much like she was to the fruit vendor. Noell had figured she'd have better luck with the troll than she would. Bad blood had a habit of souring any story. The large woman was patiently listening and asking questions of the hunched Darkspear, red hair flaring and hands flying about to emphasis his losses. Gallina sighed and looked back to Sevlaz who was still muttering about old wounds and sprained bones or something. Clearly not a healer.
Or truthful.
"Alright, alright," Noell broke her arms free to raise them to Sevlaz. "I think you'll be alright but this mess is not going to be alright. I trust you can afford to pay for the damages?"
"Pay?" The orc stopped immediately at the mention of money. Figures.
"Yes, you are responsible for this and the damages will need to be covered."
"How much?"
"That would be between you two," Noell motioned to the vendor and then returned her violet eyes to Sevlaz. "As I said I trust you will cover the damages and remain civil in this dispute."
Steel entered the red eyes of the orc for a few moments, his ugly mouth set in what should have been a grimace only emphasised the lack of lips to the creature. Noell frowned back enough for them both.
Finally, he seemed to have broke and waved it off. "Yeah I got it."
"Good," the elf nodding as she leveled off her authoritative demeanor, which for some reason she had not noticed her hand leaving the pommel of her sword. Bad habits.
Dangerous habits.
"I'll leave you to it then," Noell turned away from Sevlaz, her eyes meeting that of her partners who nodded and spoke a bit more with the Darkspear. Hands were clasped, shoulders touched, and the Loa invoked. Light she wished should connect better here, but that was the life of an elf in the Horde. The enemy of my enemy is not always my friend.
Nianani stalked back up to Noell, her heavy sword resting on her shoulder as she looked over the shorter elf toward Sevlaz and back.
"Al'rite?" Her thick Zandalari accent sometimes hard to understand but Noell was learning.
Noell turned to look back as Sevlaz approached the Darkspear vendor, judging by the body language it would be a long conversation. She shook her head.
"For now," she spoke coolly. "I have bad feeling about that one."
"Ya say tha bout a lot of folk."
Noell shook her head, finding she did that a lot for herself as much as others. Bad habits died hard.
The kitchen smelled divine. The twins had been practicing their cooking for the upcoming festivities; they wanted to celebrate the family by participating. Braedyn had enjoyed sitting back and sipping her tea in the late afternoon, offering advice and watching the two of them buzz about the small city-house kitchen while she read her novel.
Fortune had started to walk in with his afternoon coffee and newspaper, and had promptly turned on his heel and walked back out. He knew how to handle his wife in the kitchen. But their teenage daughters? No. That was a battlefield that particular Boss wouldn’t patrol.
At least until the food was done.
Braedyn watched her husband leave and her lips quirked up. Honestly the girls were doing very well. The usual sniping of twins at this age, but also the laughter and bit of mischief natural as they first dabbed each other with flour fingerprints. Then full on smacked each other across the rumps with the white-coated powder. Ahhhh, youth. Braedyn fell into her novel again.
“Ready?”
“Ready.”
Braedyn lifted her head, mildly alarmed, but she was too late to prepare herself for what was to come.
CRACK! Thwack! Thwomp!
A dozen other similar noises splintered through the small space in a shocking cacophony. Dust scattered with the shattering, glittering in the low afternoon light and the echoes bounced off the walls.
At least it wasn’t glass. Braedyn exhaled a sigh and looked up to the ceiling. She should have realized the peanut brittle had been cooled enough.
The girls were laughing again. Isolde had a piece of the candy already in her mouth, ever the sweet tooth. Adalia was sifting through the pieces, pocketing one into her skirts. They sorted through the larger chunks of candy and occasionally continued to smash them with little confection hammers. Mostly just for fun, Braedyn thought.
They were leaving for finishing school after the winter solstice. Fortune wasn’t happy about it, but the girls were excited for the next step in the journey to adulthood. Fortune was never happy about them growing up and getting older.
There is a moment that I find really calming of sorts. Whenever it rains or storms. The feeling of it against my skin. Hearing that thunder and seeing that lightning. Though most storms are not always… comforting.
There was a clan of orcs who believed they’d pull through. The Lightningsblade Clan. An orc would go to the highest peak in Goregrond and lift their axe. They would have to be struck by lightning three times. Now that is scary as fel.
Me? I enjoy the more “peaceful” storms, if you will. There is something about relaxing while hearing that sound. And cuddling with someone special on a sofa and sharing a drink.
Last night's work at The Diamondback Club was a much needed break. Though the plan had been to go enjoy herself with a night of drinking and dancing. But she could not deny that she had enjoyed working the VIP area. She got to be social and get drinks for people. The highlight though was being able to watch Ryland dance all night.
Nahi and Cy worked the dance floors below. A few times while she had been walking past to either go put in orders for drinks or bring those drinks back up, she had stopped to admire both their sensual moves. Both had clearly been born to entertain people. Nahi had both the voice to capture people's attention, and the body.
Cy always had a passion for dancing. And she had been happy to see him doing that he loved doing. She had managed to take Jace up to the VIP section, using the ticket she had bought that night. The music could be heard all through out the club, bodies pressing together. Drinks flowing until the bar closed down for the night.
Then the real party started. Everyone crowded into the second floor, where the main dance floor was located. After a while of dancing, she left with Jace. The rest of the night was spent enjoying a the best room service, which included lots of food.
The next morning she woke up to Jace having already left. A single note had been left next to the bed. She stretched her arms over her head, her body shore. Throwing the covers off, she swings her legs over the edge of the bed. Oh she would have some bruises later, that's for sure, if she did not already have some.
Over the past few weeks, her out look on each day had become more positive. Her sprits on an all time high. Though like any other persons life, there had been hiccups along the way. She smirks when she noticed that Jace had taken pretty much any left over food. Shaking her head, she grabs a towel and walks into the bathroom to take her shower.
It was time to get ready for the day ahead.
@daily-writing-challenge
@nahisummerhold @cythion @rylandfalkov & @jacelandon for mentions.
Keranna exhaled quietly as she pulled the fragments of the cups out of the brick oven. Perhaps the heat had been to high, or the clay improperly wedged. If there was anything this new hobby had taught her it was that there was no benefit to be too precious about what you'd made. The cups and bowls she threw could shatter in the final bake no matter how perfect they looked when she cut them off the wheel.
At the very least, she could always make more on another day. Try, try again.
She dumped the shards into the bin and cleaned up the communal work station before closing up the studio. As much as she was enjoying her retirement it was, she had to admit, too quiet. Managing the Tel'vaiel Estate had enriched her — monetarily and socially. She certainly wasn't ancient by any means, she still had a few good centuries left, and the slow pace of life now had been fun at the beginning.
A man in Magistry robes outside of her apartment door was an exciting change of pace. The slender elf offered over an envelope, "Lady Zerine."
As soon as she took the paper in hand he left, offering nothing else to explain the mystery.
It had been a long time since she'd worked for the scarlet and gold — long enough that they'd been azure and gold when she'd donned the cloth. The only one in the immediate branch of her family to join those prestigious ranks.
She flipped the envelope over and looked at the wax seal on the back as she unlocked her door. It was a familiar symbol. Unexpected, but positive.
Keranna smirked to herself and dropped the unopened letter onto her kitchen counter before going to look in her cabinet of completed mugs — it was kind enough for the Grand Magister to invite her over, she'd have to bring him a gift in return.
I watched Daddy in his study again today. He’s so smart. He’s always surrounded by these big books. He’s always writing and drawing. I tried reading some of his books today, but there were a lot of words I couldn’t say. But that’s okay, because Daddy thought it was funny when I was trying. I like making him smile since he doesn’t smile very much.
His drawings are really neat. They aren’t like the paintings that we see in the city. He draws a lot of squares and boxes. When I asked him what they were, he said they were dye-a-grams. I don’t know what a dye-a-gram is, but they must be a good thing because he draws a lot of them.
He asked me if I want to learn how to draw them, too. Anka is always busy swinging her sword around and Mommy is never home, so I think Daddy is very lonely, but he never says he is. I got too distracted to answer him because I couldn’t stop asking him questions. He always lets me ask, though. If it was Mommy, she would tell me to clean Anka and my room or something. Daddy never seems to mind.
He’s so neat. I hope I can grow up and be just like him. He does so many neat things and people are always happy when he’s around. I don’t really understand it, but a lot of people when they come to visit say that he’s doing a lot of good? He’s helping people, I think, but he won’t tell me about any of that. He says that I’m too young and right now I just need to focus on my studies and my music.
Oh. And dancing. I don’t like the dancing, though. Our dancing teacher scolds me every time I step on his feet. WELL. Maybe if he didn’t have such big feet, I wouldn’t be stepping on them! Anka says it’s because I’m not graceful. I think she’s right a lot of the time about other stuff, so maybe? Everyone else says it’s important for me to learn. I saw a painting of a girl balancing books on her head, so I can try that?
I learnt more about flowers today from the girl who looks like a sunflower. Daddy works a lot with plants, too, but never lets me watch that. He says it’s dangerous and I’d probably start putting them in my mouth. I think he’s not serious about that, though. Just because I eat all of the vegetables off of my plate first doesn’t mean I like them. I want to learn lots about plants. I asked the sunflower girl to teach me. Then I can impress Daddy. Maybe even Mommy and Anka, too.
Anka is going to be a big, strong knight someday, she says. She said she’s going to protect me, but I feel like we should protect each other. I’m not good at that, though. Whenever any of the other girls say something mean, I just cry and Anka has to get mad. She tried to teach me how to use her sword, but I can’t even hold it. It’s so heavy! How does she do it??? I guess if I can’t use a sword, and if Daddy can help people with what he’s doing, I can find a way to help her. Maybe I can protect her in another way? Daddy will know. I’m going to ask him tomorrow.
We’re having springpaw for dinner tonight, but I wish we’d stop eating them. I don’t like it. I just want to eat bloodberries and mushrooms.
I have to go for dinner now, but I’m going to spend some more time in Daddy’s study before he comes to read Anka and me a bedtime story. Maybe I can make him smile again. I’m going to do my very best!
A World of Warcraft fanfiction for @daily-writing-challenge event November day 6 crack/positive featuring my Pandaren warlock oc Jing.
Jing Springfeet the Pandaren warlock put on a positive mood while in the public so no one would see the cracks starting to happen in her mind due to her warlock training.
